There has been quite some confusion on this. We have sought clarification from the SRA and have published below the guidance they have given us.
An application for exemption from the SQE2 exam is open to those who are already qualified as lawyers. This could be outside the English & Welsh jurisdiction (often referred to as Foreign Qualified Lawyers) of indeed people qualified as lawyers [but not solicitors] in the jurisdiction of England & Wales.
Where they do not have an agreed exemption granted by the SRA (because their jurisdictional qualifications have been studied and approved by the SRA) you may apply for an individual exemption (link for more info).
If you are UNable to state that your qualification grants you ALL of the practice rights enjoyed by a solicitor of England & Wales, then you will have to fill in section 8 of the form as well as section 7. We have sought clarification from the SRA on this. Please find this published below for your assistance.
Email from the SRA:
Sensitivity: General
Our ref: AUTH/SQE/SP/Hunnings
Dear Ingemar Hunnings
Thank you for your email of 28 November 2023.
Anyone who has at least one practice right listed in section 2.2 is eligible to apply for an exemption from the SQE assessments. Section 8 is required for those who do not have all the practice rights, or in certain instances where they are not able to demonstrate two years of practical experience.
If they do not have all of the practice rights they should answer the appropriate question in section 7 based on their circumstances, and they will also need to complete section 8 in full. The Section 8 assessment table should include specific examples of work completed by the applicant, and explanations as to why they consider this demonstrates each topic/competence. The section 8 narrative should then be supported by documentary evidence (where available) to show the work they have done. The applicant’s evidence must also be supported by corroborative references from those responsible for supervising that work.
Section 8 asks applicants to demonstrate transferrable skills. Applicants are not expected to demonstrate these skills in practice areas not covered by their professional legal qualification. They will however need to show they have the required abilities across the full list of topics in Section 8 through the experience they have gained to date.
We are in the process of updating both the web guidance and the application form to better explain these requirements. However, I can confirm that this advice will apply to anybody who has at least one, but not all, of the practice rights.
If you have any further questions please let me know.
Yours sincerely
Simon Prior
Authorisation Officer
Authorisation
Solicitors Regulation Authority/Awdurdod Rheoleiddio Cyfreithwyr
sra.org.uk "
You will see that this is quite an exercise. As a rule, we do not get involved in assisting with the completion of section 8 other than giving the advice above. If we did, we would need to charge at our normal consulting rate of £200/hr. That ends up being uneconomic for foreign qualified lawyers.
We hope the guidance and advice will enable you to move forward with the preparation of your application.
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External QWE Confirmation Service
If you need an SRA regulated solicitor to confirm your QWE but have no-one in your organisation to do so - we can help. [QWE confirmation is ONLY required for people who are NOT already qualified as a lawyer.] Please see the link below and feel free to signpost them to us:
QWE - External Confirming Solicitor Service - for Aspiring Solicitors
